


Sionis, who?

by BunnyJess



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, F/M, Jason died, Jason is Red Hood, Jason isn’t just a dumb pretty brute, New Relationship, Stakeout, but Steph doesn’t know, fake date, fancy dinner, its all a show, steph is spoiler, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:48:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: The entire Batfam is working together to bring down the Black Mask, and when the two who are most familiar with him are sent undercover, they discover more about each other than they do their mark. Where it goes from here is in their hands.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain/Harper Row, Stephanie Brown/Jason Todd
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	Sionis, who?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackhorseandthecherrytree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackhorseandthecherrytree/gifts).



> This is by my husband for the Valentines Exchange on the STAY discord server. 
> 
> Prompts were:  
> Fake dating whilst undercover.

Today was nothing special. There were no major events, no public holidays, just a plain old Thursday in Gotham city. Steph however, was not massively happy with how her day was unfolding.

“Do I really have to wear this monstrosity?” She sighed, flapping the beautiful dinner dress towards Cassandra and Harper, the former sat in the later’s lap with their hands linked.

“Yes, they won’t let you in with a t-shirt and scruffy jeans.” Harper repeated for maybe the fifth time in the last two hours.

“Undercover mean disguise. Be not like yourself.” Cass added, using her ever growing vocabulary to good effect.

“But why does that mean I have to dress like a snob?” Steph continued to complain, but really she knew she had to dress like this. Everyone else inside the restaurant would be dressed to a similar standard and she would stick out in anything less than this, and that would endanger the mission.

As the two with the most intimate knowledge of Black Mask aka Roman Sionis, Jason and Steph had been selected to go undercover and follow Sionis and find patterns so that the others could infiltrate his base and retrieve his shipping schedule for the next quarter. Unfortunately, tonight that meant following him into the high-end restaurant as it could provide clues as to who he might be socialising with, therefore when he might be attending events in the city.

“Besides, you want to impress Jason don’t you?” Harper said, struggling to hold back the laughter.

“Fuck off!” Steph exclaimed, scowling at the woman on the other side of the room. Steph didn’t exactly have feelings for Jason, but when they’d returned to the cave last week and Jason and Tim had been sparring (Jason with his top off), Steph had let off a noise that had made the girl’s heads snap in her direction.

“His body is tight, but he’s a knob so that’s never going to happen.” Steph looked back at them and saw Cass’ expression change to one of disappointment.

“Jason keep him for him, only way for him to stay safe.”

“Ugh, fine. Whatever, I’ll wear the stupid dress and have a good time or whatever.” Steph scooped up the dress and stomped off.

Steph stood just out of the doorway to their apartment, waiting to hear the characteristic whine of Jason’s high performance bike. She hated the thing, mostly because she’d seen how Jason rode it and the thought of being on the back terrified her. She wasn’t expecting, however, when a familiar looking Rolls Royce crept to a halt in front of the building.

A nondescript driver sprang out of the drivers seat and ran in the most formal way Steph had ever seen round to the rear passenger door. The door opened up and out stepped Jason, in a stunning dark red suit. The fabric hugged his large physique but didn’t constrain him. It accentuated his size but didn’t make it the focus of his appearance. However much Jason had paid for this suit, it wasn’t enough.

“We’ll shit, you dress up well don’t ya!” He exclaimed climbing out of the car and walking up the steps to meet her.

She hated that she was blushing, and hoped to all hell that the make up the girls had forced on her was enough to hide it. “Not too bad yourself Todd, surprised you put on more than a hoodie to be honest.” She chuckled under her breath but Jason’s expression turned deadly serious.

“This is the Golden Oak. The finest establishment on the East coast, currently playing host to guest chef Vincent Almondè! I’m still underdressed!” He cried out.

Steph was mildly taken aback. The Jason she knew should not know so much about fine dining restaurants and the chefs that work in them. “How the hell do you know that?!” She asked, taking his outstretched hand and proceeding down the steps.

“There’s a lot more to me than I let the family in on, they’ve hurt me before so I only show them what they think I am so I can only ever exceed expectations.”

Steph felt like she’d been blindsided by a truck. Jason had always come across exactly how Bruce had always described him; brash, quick to anger, lacking in discipline. To hear that this was all a show, however, was a revelation. She had to admit that it went some way to explaining why nearly everything he did worked out, he must’ve been planning what he did in advance so that he could act the fool but still win the day. Now she was intrigued, she needed to know how deep this façade ran, and how much of it she could peel away during this ‘date’.

“Come on then, we don’t want to be late.” He said, continuing to hold her hand as she lowered into the car, coming to rest on the plush leather upholstery. The door closed softly to her left as Jason appeared in the other side. The driver hopped into his seat and moments later they were underway.

The Golden Oak was nothing like Steph had ever experienced. The mood seemed to flow out from the building and capture you before you even stepped out the car. It pulled you in softly, giving you a sense of being welcome and adored. The old oak door swung inwards and showed a homely waiting area, filled with a few patrons.

They walked up to the Maître D’s stand where a softly spoke french woman greeted them. “Bonsoir monsieur et madame. May I take your name on the reservation please?”

Jason shifted naturally and then whacked Steph with yet another surprise. “La réservation est pour monsieur Cross. Mon associé a appelé plus tôt pour confirmer?” He spoke in flawless French, to the point where even the Maître D’ was caught off guard.

“D’où viens-tu en France?” She asked back.

“I’m not, but I have studied the language for some time now.” His accent returned to his natural Gothamite one which seemed to shock the Maître D’ more than his French.

“My apologies monsieur Cross, it’s rare to hear someone speak with such a natural accent in these parts. Ah yes here is your name, oh I see, yes please come with me and I will take you to your table.” With that they were led into the restaurant, leaving behind some grumpy expressions, and were seated at a table with the perfect view of the entire restaurant. “Here is the wine that was pre-ordered for the table, the owner would like to offer this on the house for you tonight. Our sommelier will be over momentarily to assist you in sampling the selection.”

The Maître D’ then disappeared back into the restaurant, only to be replaced by the sommelier. “Good evening, may I please present you with your wine?”

The man was addressing Jason but he nodded back at Steph who was again caught off guard. “Err yes, you may.”

The sommelier flicked his head between the two of them and realised his mistake (though not his misogyny). He popped the cork and poured out a small amount for Steph to taste. She had seen enough wine-tasting videos on YouTube to know that you needed to smell the wine before drinking it and proceeded to do so. Jason laughed under his breath and she felt ever so slightly embarrassed, was she doing it wrong?

“It isn’t often we get the chance to uncork such a specimen of a wine that, we were all very excited to finally use it.” The sommelier announced as Steph finally took a sip.

Instantly she couldn’t believe just how stunning it was. She had always been skeptical of wine like this. How could it possibly be worth as much as it was, but tasting this now? She got it. “Mmm it’s perfect, we’ll have it.”

The sommelier smiled and set to pouring out their glasses and returning the bottle to its holder. He offered his suggestions for meal choice and accompanying wines, then left the two of them alone.

“Holy shit Jason, did you pick this?” He simply smiled and took a tiny sip from his glass and seemed to revel in the taste.

“Well when B said I could have whatever I needed to get this done, I assumed he meant his AMEX too.”

Steph let out a hearty chuckle and then returned her attention to the menu.

Eventually they both made their selections, Jason choosing more adventurous options whilst Steph stuck as close as possible to what she knew.

Then, just as their starters arrived, Sionis strolled in with a woman under his arm and a middle aged rotund man by his side. Steph nudged Jason’s leg under the table and he made a discreet glance towards the entrance, eyeing their target. Roman scoured the restaurant for where he wanted to sit and then, when choosing a table in the centre of the main floor, loudly took his seat. His back was turned to them both but they weren’t overly concerned.

Steph picked up her handbag and started to look inside. There wasn’t much inside it other than a stick of lipstick, chewing gum, and a three inch screen that showed where the bag was aimed. She lined up the shot and then fired the surveillance bug at the low hanging chandelier over the central table. The bug silently embedded itself in the decoration and Steph activated its systems.

Immediately Steph, Jason, and anyone listening back at base could hear everything Sionis was saying. Jason and Steph both turned off their earpieces, as they knew full well that Bruce was listening back in the cave. That and Roman was talking loud enough for them to hear without any aids.

Roman only ordered one course and they knew the restaurant would serve him first to get him out as soon as possible, so they ate up, much to Jason’s dismay.

“Look, how long is this chef dude in town for?” Steph asked, taking another bite of the perfect steak she’d ordered.

“Three months.” He replied, seemingly caught between the sadness of rushing his meal and the heavenly nature of the food.

“Right then, we’ll come back and eat here before he goes then? Deal?”

Jason’s eyes lit up as he took another bite. “Sounds good to me, you already know my secrets anyway.” He winked at her, and she immediately dived back for her handbag to check on Sionis’ progress. To her dismay he was getting close to being done. Now they knew he would leave straight away, but they couldn’t afford to be caught waiting for the bill as he left.

They sped up again and Steph was sure she heard Jason whimpering.

He caught the attention of a waiter just before he finished and requested the cheque. Not a moment after they had paid did Sionis get up to leave, leaving his associate to pay for the meal and taking the woman with him.

Jason and Steph carefully collected their things and made their way out, careful to hang back far enough so as not to raise suspicion, but not so far that they lost their collar. When they got outside, they found Sionis and his escort waiting for their car to be brought around. Jason fired off a quick text to the driver and then put his phone back in his pocket. In this moment, they both forgot their training and remained completely silent as they listened to anything Roman might have to say, occasionally glancing over to check his movements too.

That was their error. Sionis was used to people being scared of him, but the two young lovebirds on the other side of the courtyard were displaying no signs of fear. Mostly because the two of them had kicked the crap out of him over the years, but he didn’t know that.

He just saw two people standing and apparently listening to him as he bragged to his woman.

Steph, who was stood with her back to the wall with Jason barely a few inches away from her, spotted the change in their marks behaviour.”Shit he’s getting suspicious.” She said, panic setting in, and it was in that moment that Jason reacted.

He grabbed both of her wrists, thrusting them up above her head and pinning them to the wall. Then he planted the heaviest kiss onto Steph’s soft lips. They both leaned fully into it as Steph tried to catch her breath.

From across the courtyard Roman hollered. “YEAH MAN! Show that bitch who’s boss!”

Both Steph and Jason ignored him though. Something had clicked inside them and now all that mattered was the kiss.

When they finally parted, Sionis was climbing into his stretch golden limo with his lady friend in tow. The car screeched off just as the Rolls pulled into the thoroughfare and stopped before them.

Not a word was said for a few minutes, both of them sitting in silence as they contemplated what had just happened. It had gone beyond maintaining cover as they had almost let Sionis escape unmarked.

Steph’s main issue was that before, Jason had just been this dumb brute who was good for a laugh and to perv over, but now she knew the real Jason. The person who had so many layers and facets that he was a completely different person. If Steph was honest, it completely changed how she saw him and after that kiss, well now she wanted to know more.

Jason turned to her, an expression on his face that showed he was trying to say something, but was struggling to get the words out.

Now Steph was the one to make the quick decision. She pulled his face closer to hers and their lips met in another passionate embrace. Deciding to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, she flicked herself across the seats and managed to awkwardly straddle his lap, their lips still writhing over each other.

When Steph felt a shift down below, she knew Jason was feeling the same things she was. This was confirmed when he pulled their lips apart and pressed the button which allowed the passengers to speak to the driver.

“Head straight back to my location James, we’ve got some ‘planning’ to do.”


End file.
